Chief Minister Paul Henderson told Parliament he expects hundreds of people will be banned.

"Once these bans come into force, particularly people being taken into protective custody three times in three months, some hundreds of people will be on these bans," he said.

"Now for the people who sell takeaway alcohol, how on earth will you know who is banned unless you have a register."

Country Liberals MLA Peter Chandler told Parliament the majority of Territorians will be affected by register, because of the need to show identification when buying takeaway alcohol.

"The fact that someone turns up to a bottle shop who is a reasonable healthy person who enjoys a social drink from time to time," he said.

"If he just doesn't happen to have some identification on him at the time, he is basically or will be treated like a criminal, because he won't be able to buy any alcohol whatsoever because he doesn't have identification."

Mr Henderson criticised the Country Liberals for speaking out against the inconvenience the new system may cause for responsible drinkers.

"It is a small inconvenience in order to enforce alcohol bans on people who abuse alcohol, who cause trouble or who are addicted to alcohol to the significant detriment to their health."

The Opposition's John Elferink used the debate to describe how he abused alcohol when he was younger.

He says he only changed when a police sergeant told him in 1986 to take responsibility for his actions.

Mr Elferink says the alcohol policy needs to make alcoholics take that responsibility without being told it is society's problem.

"Fortunately, Madam Speaker, what I was actually told by a certain sergeant, which cannot be repeated in this place, I can condense his message into a single thing: you are responsible for what you do, you fix it.

"That message resonated with me and despite the fact that I was shaking and I was sick, I heard it."